


Now and Then - Moments in Time

by Elena78



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Drama, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-02
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-10-02 21:27:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 19,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17271440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elena78/pseuds/Elena78
Summary: Hermione finds herself wrapped up in the war against Voldemort, help comes to her aid without her knowing and from the least likely person to do so. While Hermione is in and out of consciousness in her present time, while she sleeps, she seems to be also trapped in the Marauders Era. What happens when Hermione comes into contact with the 7th year Marauders at Hogwarts and begins to change her future? (HBP has no affect, please pretend HBP doesn't exist )





	1. Unwanted Memories

**Author's Note:**

> Where **_"...NOW..."_** reads, this denotes Hermione in her present time. Where **_"...THEN..."_** reads, this denotes Hermione in the past.

**_…Now…_ **

Her wand was tightly clutched in her right hand, her head was pounding, her eyes still saw the flashes of different hexes, spells, and jinxes being cast all over the place. Her heart was rapidly beating; her adrenaline had not worn off yet. Her body ached all over and her legs felt heavy as she tried to keep walking.

She came to a stop. The castle doors stood before her, with her left hand she pushed on the huge oak doors. With a slight squeak, the castle doors opened, she blinked a few times to allow her eyes to adjust to the dim light illuminating the grand entrance of Hogwarts.

She forced her legs to move, her feet silently making their way towards the grand staircase, then she made her way up. She didn’t need to look where she was going; her brain and her feet knew in which direction she needed to go. As she kept climbing the endless amounts of stairs, the ache in her head pounded harder, if not possible, louder too.

She could hear voices whispering as she passed the many portraits that lined the castle walls. Some were excited whispers; some were voices of shock as they saw her pass. Unable to escape the pounding in her head and the pain her body was screaming at her, she kept moving past the portraits, oblivious to their conversations.

She closed her eyes to try and push the pain away, however as she did this, images of the fight that just took place only moments before flashed bright in her mind. She could hear the voices yelling hex after hex. She could see the bright, brilliant colours of light flash across the forest. She could smell the disturbed earth in which the fight took place. She sniffed to try to clear her nose, but still the smell lingered.

Her senses made her remember the sight and sounds of people screaming, orange flames leapt up in her mind as she remembered the fire that erupted from the mixture of spells being cast and deflected, then bounce off onto the ancient trees that lived in the forest. She could feel them again, surrounding her and the laughter echoed in her ears.

_“We’ve got her now” A deep voice rang in her ears._

_“The filthy Mudblood!” Another voice echoed through her mind._

_“Let’s teach her a lesson before she dies. Let’s show her the wrath of the Dark Lord!” A shrill voice boomed in her ears._

_“CRUCIO!” A unison of voices said at once._

She suddenly came to a stop; she doubled over as she remembered the excruciating pain. The ringing in her ears came back and her head felt as it was about to explode. She stumbled up the stairs she was climbing, and she reached out her left hand to break her fall, as her hand hit the stone stairs; she seemed to be pulled back into her present.

Her eyes still closed, she managed to turn herself around to sit on the cold, hard stone step her hand was on. She took a few deep breaths as she allowed her brain to relax and to tell her body that it is over, that she is safe. Just as she thought she was calm again, she saw the flashes of light stream before her eyes. She squished her eyes tighter together and her hands came up over her head, clutching at her scalp as if to rid her head of the memories that burned so bright in her mind.

_She never saw who had come to her rescue, all she saw were the flashes of light and then the sound of people screaming. As the attention of the Death Eaters left her to see who their new attacker was, she felt the curse lift from her. She couldn't remember how she managed to move as even breathing seemed to rip pain right up her chest._

_Somehow, she managed to roll her body over, allowing herself to scramble on her hands and feet. She remembered finding a huge tree to hide behind, to regain her breath and her strength. Before she could do either one of those things, she saw the black swish of cloaks heading in her direction._

_Without another thought, ignoring her pain, she lunged forward, her right hand stretched right out in front of her, her wand pointing directly ahead and in the path of a Death Eater. She yelled spell after spell, hexing anyone that came in her sight. The only distinguishing sight she could see was the faint shimmer in mask they wore._

_She had fought with all her might, her brain recalling every spell, every hex she had ever read about or learned. As she inched forward through the mass of Death Eaters, she remembered Ginny and Ron. She had lost them somewhere. They were all together at one point, they had to find Harry and help him._

_However, she couldn’t recall when she had last seen them. All she knew at that point was to get past anyone or anything that was in her way. She had to keep fighting, she had to keep moving. Harry couldn’t be far away, she had a vague idea in which direction he had gone. However, when she looked around her, all she could see were trees, flashing lights and bodies._

_She was just about to cast another hex when she heard the most awful, mass amount of screaming she could ever possibly imagine. She blinked her eyes rapidly to try to adjust to the darkness that fell upon her._

_“NOOOOOOO!” A voice screamed out in the distance._

_“The Dark Lord has been killed!” Another voice sounded out from behind the trees._

_She stood still for a moment, stunned by what she just heard. After a moment, all she could hear where whispers in the darkness. That’s when she realised the war had ended. Before she had the chance to react, a loud thunderous Crack sounded through the forest, a loud lasting echo left in its wake._

_She hadn’t realised that she had recoiled from the noise. She lifted her head from under her arms, her eyes swept out across in front of her and she couldn’t see anything. Her ears tried to pick up any sound; all that greeted her ears was the sound of the crackling fires that were burning. She jumped when she heard the cheering. All around her people were rejoicing. The remaining Death Eaters had apparated out of the forest; Lord Voldemort was dead, what about Harry?_

_“Harry!” She screamed_

_“Harry!” she screamed repeatedly. No one heard her, no one answered her. Not knowing what else to do and as the pain she had forgotten had suddenly returned, she then headed for the castle._

_“Lumos.” She muttered, and the end of her wand lit up and helped to guide her out of the forest._

She sat on the steps breathing fast and shallow. Her memories faded as she opened her eyes and looked around her. The castle was deadly silent, even the portraits had stopped whispering. She grabbed hold of the railing and using it to help her back onto her feet. Once she was standing, she caught sight of her hands for the first time. Red, that’s all she saw. Her hands were covered in blood.

_Is this my blood?_ She thought to herself as she examined her robes. Although her robes are black, she could see the marks where blood had splattered or spilt, there were tears and holes where jinxes and hexes had landed upon her. She took in a deep breath and that is when she smelt it for the first time.

The coppery smell of blood flooded her nose and invaded her senses, her mouth became dry and she could taste that awful copper taste of blood. She tried to swallow, but her mouth refused to produce any saliva. She once again doubled over, this time sick to her stomach from the smell and the taste she couldn’t get rid of.

She could feel her head pound once again, her brain felt like it was about to explode from her skull, her vision blurred, and she fell.

“Hermione!” She could hear a male voice scream out her name just before darkness over took her. She never felt the strong arms that caught her, she never saw the pale, panic-stricken face of her rescuer and she never saw the sadness in the pair of clouded grey eyes that bore down at her.


	2. Hermione's Unknown Helper

Draco ran to Hermione and caught her before she tumbled down the stairs. He pulled her back a little and saw that she was still breathing. He picked her up in his arms, her weight slightly heavier than the last time he had done this, and he made his way up to the Hospital Wing.

Once he arrived with Hermione still unconscious in his arms, Madame Pomfrey immediately directed Draco to an empty bed. He laid Hermione down carefully and moved back to allow the healers to do their work.

“Draco,” a voice behind him said and Draco jumped a little. “Come, you need attending to also.” Dumbledore placed a hand on Draco’s shoulder and steered him away from Hermione.

“No, I have to make sure she’s okay.” Draco protested, but Dumbledore kept urging that Draco was to go with him.

“She’s in good hands now.” Draco heard Dumbledore say, and he finally caved in and was shown to an empty bed.

As the healers began attending to Draco’s wounds, he felt dizzy suddenly, and he closed his eyes to let the feeling pass. Once Draco closed his eyes though, the events of the night replayed back in his mind.

_Draco smiled proudly as he stepped off the train; this was his last year at Hogwarts. With his chest puffed out and his Head Boy badge sparkling; he looked around him as the students piled out onto the station platform._

_He watched all the new first years looking around in confusion and couldn’t help but chuckle to himself. They look so little and pathetic he thought to himself, and then just as if he was being punished by the thought, someone ran into him almost knocking him over._

_Draco glared at the person responsible, and his eyes stared down into the small petite face of a blond-haired girl. She had a scared look on her face, but Draco could only notice that the little girl had bright blue eyes. Her face looked oddly familiar, but he couldn’t place where he had seen her before._

_“I’m sorry.” The little girl whispered as she backed away from Draco, as she did though, she managed to back into another little girl. This time the little girl who she bumped into fell over._

_“Oh, I’m so sorry.” The blue-eyed girl cried out as she covered her mouth in shock._

_Draco was amused by the little girl. However, his amusement faded when he saw Hermione Granger come to the aid of the girl who had been knocked down._

_“It’s okay.” Hermione said to the blue-eyed girl, and she squatted down to help the other little girl get back up. Draco couldn’t see Hermione as she was hidden from view by the blue-eyed girl._

_Just as she did this, a flash of green light whizzed past Draco’s head and hit the little blue-eyed girl in the back. Draco jumped slightly, and he saw the little blue-eyed girl’s body go ridged for a moment before slumping to the ground with a thud._

_There were screams as the people around Draco realised what had just happened. Hermione looked over at the little body that had fallen in front of her, her eyes wide in shock._

_“She’s dead!” Draco heard another little voice shriek._

_Confusion and panic broke out onto the station platform. Hagrid had just arrived, to collect the first years, and was confused about what was happening. Draco just stood there shocked, he couldn’t move. All he could do was stare at the little body on the ground._

_Hermione quickly jumped up and ran over to Hagrid, Draco allowed his eyes to follow her, watching her speak to Hagrid with frantic hand gestures. Harry and Ron had also joined Hermione as she retold what she knew._

_After a moment, Hagrid had vanished, and Harry and Ron were heading off in the direction the green flash had come from. Hermione ran over to Draco and started rambling on about something. After realising that Draco wasn’t paying attention, she shook Draco to snap him out of his daze._

_“Draco!” Hermione snapped as she kept shaking Draco by the shoulders._

_Draco finally looked at Hermione. “Get your filthy hands off me, Mudblood!” Draco spat._

_“Look, there is no time for that now. We need to get the first years back onto the train. We need to get them out of here.” Hermione was talking so fast that Draco had a hard time understanding her._

_“Why would I want to help you?” Draco threw back at Hermione._

_“Draco, a little girl has just been killed. While you may not care and are probably glad that your Death Eater friends are more than likely responsible, that Badge of yours,” Hermione screamed at him while pointing to his Head Boy badge, “requires you to help the students. Now we need to get the first years out of here!” Hermione finished._

_She turned back around and started ushering all the first years back onto the train. Draco looked back at the little girls’ body and noticed that Dumbledore had already arrived and was examining her._

_Draco also noticed that other seventh years were helping Hermione, but for some reason, Draco still couldn’t move. He watched as Dumbledore turned the little girl over and with a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach, Draco finally realised who the little girl was. When Dumbledore had turned the girl over, her head rolled to face Draco and her eyes were still open, staring blankly off into space, her little mouth slightly opened._

_“Hey, what’s all the fuss about?” Draco heard his friend Goyle, come from behind him._

_“Oh my….” Said another voice. Draco knew it was Crabbe._

_“Hey, what happened to my little sister?” yelled Goyle as he stormed over to Dumbledore._

_Dumbledore whispered something to Goyle, and he saw his best friend stumble and fall to the ground. Draco had never seen his best friend cry. However, at that moment, he heard a muffled scream as Goyle wrapped his arms around the lifeless body of his sister. He was holding her and rocking her as he cried._

_Finally, Draco could move. He walked over to Goyle and put his hand on his best friend's shoulder._

_“Let her go.” Draco said in a soft tone. “She’s gone.”_

_“Get away from me!” Goyle screamed as he continued to cry._

_By this time, all the teachers had arrived and were giving out instructions. McGonagall was talking to the train driver and the trolley lady, Snape had arrived and was crouched by Goyle, trying to coax him to let go of his sister._

_Goyle had finally laid her back down on the ground. He closed her eyes and placed a kiss on her forehead and stood up with Snape’s help. Snape looked at Draco and motioned with his eyes back down to where the little girl laid._

_Draco understood and took off his cloak. He watched Snape walk Goyle away and Draco stepped forward to where the little girl was._

_“Goodbye, Chelsea.” He whispered as he draped his cloak over her body and wrapped her up in it. He then lifted the little body up and followed Snape and Goyle._

_The station platform was almost cleared of all the students, only a few seventh year’s and teachers remained. Draco looked around and noticed that Dumbledore was gone, and Professor McGonagall was approaching him._

_“Take her to the train. We will arrange for her family to find her when it’s safe.” McGonagall told Draco as he walked to where the trolley lady stood. Draco handed over the body to the trolley lady, as she took the little bundle, Draco saw his Slytherin patch on his cloak and knew that at least Chelsea had been placed into her proper house._

_Draco backed away; he was getting that sick feeling back in the pit of his stomach again. McGonagall was talking to the trolley lady and then watched as the train began to depart from the platform. Draco never saw who was behind him, but he felt his body being wrapped up and then before he knew it, he had passed out._

_When Draco stirred back into consciousness, he felt his breath hot on his face. His hands flew up to his face, and he felt a mask. He heard muffled voices and tried to strain his ears to hear what was going on._

_“I’ll be waiting in the cave just beyond the forest.” Draco heard a cold slithering voice say. “Make sure your son does not disappoint me, Lucius, or you will meet the fate I intend on showing Potter.” That cold voice said and then a chilling laugh pierced through his ears._

_Draco shuddered, and he heard the Dark Lord disappear. He heard rustling of leaves and realised someone was approaching him and Draco lifted his head and looked around._

_“Ah, you’re awake my son.” Came the cold voice of his father. “It has begun, and you are to finally prove your worth to the Dark Lord. I wish you luck my son, now off you go.”_

_Draco felt something being pushed into his hand and when he looked down, he saw his wand. Draco gripped his wand tightly and looked back up, but his father was gone. Draco looked around him frantically; all he could see were trees. He recognised where he was, he had seen these trees before. He was standing in the forbidden forest._

_From behind him, he could hear shouting and screaming, when he turned around, he saw bright coloured lights flashing in all directions. Draco’s heart began to pound in his chest and panic and fear crept through him. They had started the war._

_“There’s one.” Draco heard a voice screaming, but before he could react, he felt something hit his legs and a searing pain jolted through him._

_Draco didn’t wait to be hit again, so he tried to get up off the ground. His left leg wouldn’t move though, he looked down at his leg and realised the injury he had. He pointed his wand down at his leg and muttered a healing charm, and instantly he felt the wound close and the pain ebbed away._

_Draco finally stood up and looked around; his attacker was nowhere to be found. What he did see, were other Death Eaters locked in combat. Draco ran and stumbled his way around the forest. Curses and jinxes kept flying his way, and he fought them off and yelled out his own curses in defence._

_As Draco kept making his way through the forest, all he could think of was how stupid all this was. All he wanted to do was start his last year of Hogwarts. He was made Head Boy for reasons he couldn’t comprehend, but he felt honoured and proud. Why Dumbledore chose him was still a mystery, but Draco accepted it. Now he was running through the forest fighting for his life. Madness, he thought, this is total utter madness._

_As Draco fought off another curse flying his way, he didn’t see someone running in his direction, and he collided with the person and tumbled to the ground. Draco’s mask flew off and his wand skidded across the leafy ground. Draco stumbled back on his feet and fumbled to pick his wand back up. He turned around and pointed his wand in the direction, he thought the person he collided with would be._

_“Potter!”_

_“Well, well, Malfoy,” Harry began to say. “I finally get to give you back what you deserve.” Harry finished and yelled a curse at Draco._

_Draco blocked off the curse and was shocked to hear such hatred and coldness in Harry’s voice. Before Draco could comprehend what was happening, he found himself locked in a duel with Harry._

_Harry was strong and more powerful than what Draco had thought. He had no idea how long their duelling had been going on, but he had to keep getting up. Draco was not about to let Harry Potter defeat him. Draco was about to curse Harry once again, but Harry countered him before Draco had time to even open his mouth._

_“Expelliarmus!” Harry yelled, and Draco felt the force of Harry’s disarming spell hit him in his chest, and it sent him flying across the forest._

_Draco hit a tree and slid down its trunk and his body slammed to the ground. For a moment Draco lay there before his head cleared, and he tried to get up. The force from the spell had winded Draco and he was gasping for air. Draco could feel the pain searing through his body, but he focused his strength on getting his breath back and forced the pain out of his mind._

_When Draco found he could breathe once again, he tried to stand up; before he could muster the energy, he saw something drop to the ground in front of him. Draco looked up and saw Harry standing before him, his wand pointing straight at Draco._

_“Take your wand and get up.” Harry said and the hatred and anger behind Harry’s voice put fear in Draco._

_Draco looked back down and saw his wand. He gripped it firmly in his hand and stood up, pointing his wand straight back at Harry._

_“I’m not a coward like the person who killed that little girl. I won’t hurt someone who is young, defenceless and unarmed.” Harry spat at Draco. “I won’t curse someone while their back is turned!”_

_At Harry’s last words, Draco froze. He had heard similar words like that before. Professor Moody, or who they all assumed was Professor Moody, had said something like that to him in his fourth year._

_“Do not presume to know about that little girl, Potter.” Draco spat back at Harry. “I grew up with that little girl; her name was Chelsea, Chelsea Goyle. That little girl was like a sister to me.” Draco finished as he inched forward, toward Harry._

_Harry’s eyes faulted a little as what Draco had said sunk in. Draco could see a little of Harry’s anger shrink away from his face, but they both stood still, wands pointing towards each other._

_Draco felt that same sickening feeling again. The Death Eaters had killed one of their own and still this war goes on. Again, all Draco could think was how stupid this whole thing was. Draco slightly lowered his wand and saw Harry’s expression turn from being angry to being confused._

_“Harry this is madness. What’s going on is madness. You have to stop it.” The words were out of Draco’s mouth before he knew he was even speaking._

_Harry simply stared at Draco, his wand still pointing at him. Harry may be confused by Draco, but he would never lower his wand to an enemy._

_Draco fully lowered his wand as he continued to speak. “I didn’t want this Harry,” Draco held out his hands to indicate the war going on around them. “I just wanted to start my final year of school, just like you.” Draco said desperately. He had no idea why he was telling Harry this, but he just wanted it all to stop._

_Draco dropped his wand, and heard it fall to the ground. “He said he’d be in the cave beyond the forest.” Draco recited what he had overheard and dropped his head and stared at the ground. “Do what you will to me, just end this Harry.” Draco finished with an almost pleading voice._

_Draco listened and waited for Harry to reply. He could still hear screams, in the distance. He could smell the smoke that filled the air. If he concentrated hard enough, he could also hear the crackling of fire burning. After a while, when Draco realised Harry wasn’t saying anything, he raised his head._

_Draco blinked a few times and looked all around him, Harry was nowhere in sight. Draco slowly picked his wand back up, and he felt relieved. Not just because Harry had let him go, but he knew Harry went to find Voldemort._

_Draco stood himself up straight. He still had no idea why he told Harry what he did. Draco was supposed to feel honoured to be part of this war. However, something inside of him just didn’t want any of this to be happening right now. Images of Chelsea floated through his mind, and he had to take a few steady breaths to rid himself of that sickening feeling again._

_He then turned around and headed back into the fight. He stood on the edge from where most of the combat was taking place. From his left, he could hear someone yelling curses. A familiar voice rang through his ears. He looked, and his eyes fell on Hermione Granger._

_“Filthy Mudblood.” Draco muttered, but once the words were said, he felt that same sick feeling in the pit of his stomach._

_Again, he had no idea why he was feeling this way. He hated her, he had been imagining this exact moment happening. A time and place where she was being cursed and under attack. However, as he looked at her now, something inside of him turned._

_She looked so beautiful right now. She had so much determination and passion etched on her face as she concentrated on her defence. As he heard her yell out curses and counters, he realised just how powerful she was._

_Through all this madness, again, Draco had no idea what he was doing. From where he stood, he was helping her. Sending curses and jinxes to those who were attacking her. For some strange reason, he wanted to protect her, to see her through all this madness._

_He had no idea how long he had been following her, slipping and sliding in the shadows the forest offered. It may have only been minutes, it may have been hours. Draco just kept on fighting along with her, for her._

_His thoughts must have distracted him for a moment as she was knocked down by a curse and from all around, he saw at least five Death Eaters surrounding her._

_“We’ve got her now” Draco heard one of them say._

_“The filthy Mudblood!” Came from another._

_“Let’s teach her a lesson before she dies. Let’s show her the wrath of the Dark Lord!” Said another._

_“CRUCIO!” A chorus of voices said at once._

_Draco’s heart stopped beating for a moment as he saw them curse her at the same time. Her cries of pain were muffled by the sound of the fighting going on around them. He looked at Hermione writhing in pain on the ground, the sight making him feel sick once again. From somewhere deep inside of him, Draco found his strength, and he threw a curse at one of the Death Eaters._

_Once the curse had hit him, and he fell back in pain, this seemed to distract the other Death Eaters and the curse was lifted off Hermione. He watched in amazement as Hermione managed to scramble out of the Death Eaters way. He thought that surely the curse would have knocked her out, if not killed her._

_He watched her hide behind a tree as more people came and locked themselves in combat with the Death Eaters. His eyes flickered back to Hermione, and she was once again fighting, Draco was still amazed by her strength and power. He once again stayed in his spot by the edge of the combat and helped Hermione, fending off anyone he could see trying to make their way towards her._

_Draco froze when he heard the mass screaming, the noise so loud and all around him._

_“NOOOOOOO!” A voice screamed out, in the distance._

_“The Dark Lord has been killed!” Another voice sounded out from behind the trees._

_For a moment Draco stood still as he listened to the whispering filling the forest. A smile spread across his face. “He did it. Harry did it.” Draco whispered to himself._

_A loud thunderous Crack sounded out around him. Draco ducked and covered his ears instinctively. Once the sound faded, he knew that the remaining Death Eaters had disappeared._

_The cheering rang out loud through the forest, Draco smiled once again. He was unsure of what was going to happen to him, but for the first time during this whole ordeal, Draco felt happy._

_“Harry!” Draco heard a faint scream. He looked back around to where Hermione was, and she was calling out his name. He could see the worry on her face, and then watched as she realised Harry wasn’t able to hear her._

_Hermione headed off through the forest, heading back in the direction of Hogwarts. Draco wasn’t sure what he should do, for a moment he thought of fleeing, but then he turned and followed Hermione once again. He stayed away from the crowds of people rejoicing the fall of Voldemort and made sure he kept a good distance away from Hermione._

_Once she entered the castle, Draco realised, he was too far away from her, so he began to jog so he could catch up to her. Once he was inside the castle, he couldn’t see her. He could hear the whispering of the portraits coming from above, so he bounded up the stairs._

_He kept running up and up until he caught a glimpse of her. She was sitting on the steps, her hands clutching her head. She was still a couple of flights up from where he was. He slowly made his way up; he didn’t want her to be scared as he approached her._

_He watched her slowly stand and look at her hands. She seemed confused and she whispered something Draco couldn’t make out, that’s when he saw her double over. He screamed out her name and ran up the stairs to close the gap between them. He had just reached her in time before she would have fallen down the stairs._


	3. Somewhere Back in Time

_**...Then...** _

_**...From Chapter 1...** _

_She never felt the strong arms that caught her, she never saw the pale, panic-stricken face of her rescuer, and she never saw the sadness in the pair of clouded grey eyes that bore down at her._

He had just come from arguing with James. They were just outside the castle entrance and James had just finished a gruelling Quidditch training session.

"Hey Prongs," Sirius sang out from behind James, he was just about to enter the castle when Sirius caught up with him. "Wait up."

James stopped and looked back at his best friend. As Sirius caught up to James, he gave his best friend a questioning look.

"What's up, bad training session?" Sirius asked with concern on his face.

James sighed and shook his head. "No, I just had another argument with Lily."

Sirius laughed. "So, what was it about this time?"

"Well, I was showing Lily some new moves I learned, and I didn't realise a bludger heading right for me. Lily stopped it with some spell, and when I landed on the ground to thank her, she just started yelling at me, telling me to stop showing off and to pay more attention." James sighed in frustration.

Sirius chuckled and looked at the sad expression on James' face. "Perhaps there is some truth in what she said." 

James gasped on shock at his friend. "So, you agree with her?" James asked.

"All I'm saying is that you try so hard to impress her that you lose sight of what's going on around you. Lily is with you now, ease off the showing off." Sirius replied.

James looked furious; his own best friend was having a go at him. "Whatever!" James spat out at Sirius and stormed past him back down towards the castle grounds.

"Hey James," Sirius called out after him as he bounded down the castle steps to catch up with James again.

"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked as he stepped in front of James to block him.

"What's wrong with me?" James asked in exasperation. "What's wrong with you is more to the point." James yelled. "You've been jealous of the time I spend with Lily ever since we got together, but you never once failed to back me up, until now."

Sirius was hurt by James' comments, and James knew it. He could see the look on Sirius' face change from concern to a wince of pain.

"Go to hell, Potter!" Sirius spat back at his friend then bounded back up to the castle.

Sirius made his way back up the stairs that led to the Gryffindor common room. As he reached the bottom of a flight of stairs, he heard whispers coming from the portraits that lined the walls. He couldn't hear exactly what they were saying, but he'd never witness such a thing before.

He began to make his way up the stairs again and that's when he saw her, a girl was standing on the stairs looking confused. Sirius noticed the robes she was wearing, and his eyes landed on the Gryffindor emblem. He didn't recognise her at all. She then suddenly doubled over and was about to fall. Sirius bounded up the stairs just in time to catch her before she fell.

He pulled her slightly away from him and looked down at her face. He could hear her faint breath and knew she was just unconscious. Sirius picked her up in his arms and carried her up to the Hospital Wing. As he ascended the stairs, his brain flicked through all the Gryffindor faces, he could think of and still her face wasn't one of them.

Once inside the hospital wing, Sirius laid the unconscious girl on an empty bed and went in search of Madam Pomfrey. When Sirius located the nurse, he found that he had no idea what to say.

Madam Pomfrey looked up from her books and stared at Sirius waiting for him to explain his latest trip to the hospital wing. After a few minutes had passed and Poppy could see that Sirius was having trouble speaking, she took it upon herself to initiate the conversation.

"Well out with it boy!" She said as she rose from her seat. "If you and your friends have been up to anymore mischief and have gotten hurt, I will refuse you treatment. The last time you were here I had to try and explain to very angry parents why their child was struck with an unknown hex." Madam Pomfrey was saying as she stood with a hand on one hip while shaking a finger at him with her other hand.

Sirius cowered a little under the woman's scrutiny; however, he was still unsure how to tell her about the girl.

"Well," Sirius began to say. "There is this girl, I found her on the stairs about to collapse..." Sirius trailed off as Madam Pomfrey gasped in shock and hurried out of her office and into the infirmary.

When Poppy found the girl, she rushed over to her at once. A quick glance over with her eyes told her that the girl had no physical wounds, so she took her wand out of her pocket and began to perform certain spells to try and find out what was wrong with the girl.

After a while, Poppy let out a sigh. She turned around and almost bumped straight into Sirius, who had been standing behind her the entire time.

"Mr. Black, I almost forgot you were here." She said in a bit of a fluster.

"Err...So do you know what's wrong with her?" He asked.

"Well, of course I do boy!" Madam Pomfrey half scolded Sirius as she moved away from him to her potion cabinet. After a bit of searching, she came back with a vial of potion and moved to the side of the girl again.

Sirius watched the girl's reaction once the smell of the potion was taken in. The girl sniffed slightly in disgust then suddenly jumped in her bed sitting up right.

"Oh..." The girl said as she looked around, her eyes were blinking rapidly as she seemed to be taking in her surroundings.

"It's okay dear," Madam Pomfrey began to say as she laid a hand on the girls’ shoulder. "You seemed to have fainted and Mr. Black brought you up here to the hospital wing."

Hermione looked at the person who was speaking to her and after a moment, she recognised the woman. "Madam Pomfrey?" She asked in confusion. The woman she was looking at was the nurse she knew and loved; only she looked much younger.

"Yes dear, who else would I be?" Madam Pomfrey replied picking up on the girl's confusion. "And who would you be?"

Hermione was dumbstruck by the question. "It's...It's me, Hermione Granger!"

"Hmm..." Madam Pomfrey seemed to be pondering over the name. She flicked her wand and a book instantly appeared in the nurse's hands. With another flick of her wand, the pages in the book began to flip. Once the book had gone through every page and closed itself, Madam Pomfrey put the book down and wore a puzzled look on her face.

"Madam Pomfrey?" Sirius asked in confusion.

Hermione jumped slightly at the boy's voice and looked over at the boy. Her eyes grew wide with shock, and she gasped as her hands flew to her mouth to hide her expression.

"Mr. Black." Hermione repeated the name that the nurse had told her, only her words were muffled by her hands.

Madam Pomfrey seemed to be oblivious to Hermione's reaction to Sirius; however, Sirius noticed Hermione's reaction and was confused by this girl. Who was she?

"Your name does not appear to be in the student ledger, are you a new student?" Madam Pomfrey asked her.

Sirius' eyes looked between Madam Pomfrey and Hermione, his confusion growing more and more.

Hermione ignored Madam Pomfrey's question as she continued to stare at Sirius. She recognised him, yet her brain simply could not believe what she was seeing. She knew she was looking at Sirius Black, only he too was much younger. He looked like he was the same height, yet Hermione couldn't tell for sure. His hair was short and combed back nicely, he looked a lot more fit and muscular than she remembered.

Hermione's hands fell from her mouth as she swung her legs over the edge of the bed and stood up. She walked over to Sirius and stood in front of him. Sirius backed away a little, unsure what this girl was going to do. He looked over at Madam Pomfrey and saw her look of confusion then back at the girl who called herself Hermione.

"Sirius...Sirius Black?" Hermione asked the boy.

"Yes, only who are you?" He replied, still confused by her.

"Oh my..." Hermione said as she suddenly flung her arms around Sirius and hugged him tight. "I don't believe it; I never thought I'd see you again!" She said as she embraced him.

"Ah..." Sirius said as he felt the weight of Hermione crushing him in a hug. He blushed at her actions and his mind was whirling trying to remember if he had seen Hermione before.

He managed to pull Hermione off him and looked at her. Her eyes were sparkling at him with recognition, her cheeks were flushed pink and her smile was radiant. Sirius took in her looks and blushed a bit more as he noticed her beauty. She was plain looking, though she seemed to radiate a certain beauty that made him catch his breath.

When Sirius made no attempt to speak to her Hermione's smile faded, and she looked back over at Madam Pomfrey. She was watching her with the same look of confusion that Sirius had. Hermione looked back at Sirius and something in her mind clicked.

"Oh....Oh...." Hermione began to say as she backed away from Sirius. She kept looking between Madam Pomfrey and Sirius, and she could only come to one conclusion and the colour drained from her face.

"Am I dead?" She asked.

"Oh no dear," Madam Pomfrey began. "Did you not hear me before? You only fainted. Are you okay?"

"I must be dead, there is no other explanation!" Hermione continued to say, she seemed lost in her own thoughts and didn't see the alarmed looks that Madam Pomfrey and Sirius shot at each other.

Hermione turned around and made her way over to a window on the opposite side of the room. Madam Pomfrey and Sirius followed close behind her.

"Hermione, are you okay?" Sirius asked her.

Hermione seemed to be babbling to herself, and they could only hear certain words.

"Everything looks the same...Yet different...The Forbidden Forest...The War....Death Eaters..." Hermione was saying.

At the last words, both Madam Pomfrey and Sirius tensed up and Sirius paled slightly in the face. Madam Pomfrey leaned down behind Sirius and whispered in his ear.

"Go fetch the headmaster quickly." Sirius nodded and quickly turned and ran from the hospital wing.


	4. Time and Truth

Sirius bounded down the many stairs of the castle, praying with every step that he took that one of the staircases wouldn’t move on him. As he leapt down the last few steps that led onto the fifth floor, he almost collided with a group of people.

“Whoa,” came a familiar voice. “Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

Sirius looked up and saw his friends all staring at him, he looked to see the one who had spoken to him though and puffed out his response.

“No…time, Remus…must see Dumbledore…”

Sirius then ran past his group of friends and continued down the hall to the huge statue of a Gargoyle that hid the entrance to the headmaster’s office. He didn’t notice that his friends had followed him down the hall, past the Gargoyle entrance, up to the spiral staircase and into Dumbledore’s office with him.

Professor Dumbledore looked up in surprise as he saw the students pile into his office; he noticed that Sirius in particular looked rather pale and short of breath. He stood up from behind his desk and walked around to where Sirius was bent over catching his breath.

“So, Mr Black, what brings you and your friends back to my office?” Dumbledore asked.

Sirius stood up straight and looked behind him at the mention of the word “friends”. Sirius was greeted by half smiles from James, Remus, and Peter. Sirius shook his head and faced his Headmaster once again.

“Sir, you’re needed in the Hospital Wing immediately.” Sirius replied.

“What has happened this time, another fight, Mr Black?” Dumbledore questioned Sirius in a harsh tone, yet Sirius could see the small twinkle in his eyes.

“Ah, no. I found a girl who I don’t recognise about to collapse on the stairs. I took her straight to see Madam Pomfrey, and when she woke up…Well, she seemed to know who I was. She then started babbling about Death Eaters in the Forbidden Forest, so I came straight here to you.” Sirius said in a rush, and he could hear his friends gasp in shock behind him.

“Are you sure you do not recognise this girl?” Dumbledore asked his face unmoved by the mention of Death Eaters.

“I'm positive. She is wearing Gryffindor robes; however, I’ve never seen her before in my life.” Sirius confirmed.

Dumbledore seemed to ponder this for a moment and then nodded his head once.

“Well, then, off to the infirmary we shall go. Follow me.” Dumbledore said as he gestured for Sirius, James, Remus, and Peter to follow.

As they all walked back up the stairs to the Hospital Wing, James and Remus kept asking Sirius a string of questions to which Sirius ignored. The fact of the matter was that Sirius had no answers to their questions. He had no idea who this girl was, where she came from, how she knew him, or how many Death Eaters were supposed to be in the Forbidden Forest.

They all entered the Hospital Wing together and Madam Pomfrey hurried over to Dumbledore and began to speak to him in hushed tones. Sirius made his way back over to Hermione, who was still standing by the same window.

Hermione heard the footsteps behind her and turned around. She saw Sirius and smiled at him.

“Where did you…” she had begun to say, then trailed off as she noticed who was behind Sirius. “Oh my…” she gasped.

The messy raven coloured hair was too familiar to her, he was tall and thin, and she noticed the half-smile he wore on his face. Though when she looked at this boy in the eyes, they were not emerald, they were hazel.

“Potter…James Potter?” Hermione finally gasped out.

James’ shock and surprise went unnoticed as he whipped his head over to look at Sirius. Before he had a chance to think, the girl had flung herself at him and hugged him tight.

“Ah,” James said in a shocked voice as he felt the weight of the strange girl upon him.

Sirius suppressed a laugh just as Remus did, Peter simply looked scared.

“Yeah, she did the same thing to me.” Sirius told James as he watched James untangle himself from Hermione.

Hermione stood back and looked at Remus next, before she had time to react to him though, Remus stepped forward and held out his right hand to the girl.

“Hello, I’m Remus, Remus Lupin.” He introduced himself with a smile.

“I know.” Hermione said as she shook his hand in greeting and returned his smile.

Hermione then looked at the last boy. He seemed to be nervous and wouldn’t meet her look.

“I guess you are Peter Pettigrew?” Hermione asked a hint of annoyance could be detected in her voice.

“Y…yes.” Peter squeaked out in surprise and shock as his beady eyes finally met hers.

“We can see that you know who we are, however, who are you?’ Remus asked her.

“Oh, how impolite of me,” Hermione began. “I’m Hermione, Hermione Granger.” She replied and looked around the room, as if she were searching for something. She saw that Dumbledore was standing with Madam Pomfrey; they were still locked in a conversation.

“Hermione, are you looking for something?” Sirius asked her.

“Not something. Someone,” Hermione replied as she continued her search. When she was satisfied that there wasn’t anyone else in the room, her attention returned to James. “Where is Lily? I thought you two were inseparable?”

“You know Lily?” James gasped.

“No. I guess you could say that I know of her.”

“How? How do you know us, yet we don’t know who you are?” Sirius cut in on the conversation.

Hermione stared at Sirius, unable to figure out a way to answer him.

“A very interesting question indeed!” a wise old voice came from behind the boys.

“Professor Dumbledore!” Hermione exclaimed, “I’m so happy to see you.”

“Yes, well, I’ll ask that you refrain from hugging me.” Dumbledore replied with a slight chuckle and Hermione’s cheeks burned red.

Dumbledore moved between the boys and sat himself on a vacated chair that was beside one of the empty beds.

“So, how is it that you came to be here Miss Granger?’ Dumbledore inquired, and Hermione noticed that the boys were all watching her and waiting for her explanation.

Hermione drew in a deep breath, looked towards Dumbledore and gave him, her only, logical explanation.

“Well sir, I believe that I have somehow managed to travel back into time. I am supposed to be starting my first day of my seventh year of Hogwarts and as Head Girl. I’m from the year 1997.”

“Hmmm,” Dumbledore seemed to be thinking things over in his mind, and Hermione could feel his eyes searching her for some truth. “What do you remember happening before you became aware that you had travelled back in time?”

“I…ah…” Hermione stammered, unsure of how to answer. She looked towards the boys who were still watching and listening to every word she had to say. “I think it best we speak in private, Professor.”

“As you wish,” Dumbledore replied and looked towards the four boys who were now even more curious than they were before. “I think it best that you four return to your common room for now.” He told the boys.

With slight hesitation and disappointment, the four friends left the room. Hermione sighed in relief as she felt some pressure lift off her shoulders and took a seat beside Dumbledore. Hermione sat lost in her own thoughts for a moment and noticed that Dumbledore had patiently waited for her to gather her thoughts.

“I…I’m not exactly sure how much I can tell you about my time, Professor,” Hermione began. “Before I realised that I was in this time, I had just come from fighting in the war against Voldemort.”

“Voldemort?” Dumbledore repeated, somewhat surprised.

“Yes, he still exists in my time.” Hermione said and made sure she chose her words carefully.

Again, Dumbledore seemed to ponder on her answers before he spoke. “Were you hit with any spells that could have transported you back?”

“Not that I can remember,” Hermione replied as she tried to recall the fight. “I thought that perhaps my Time-Turner may have broken, but I wasn’t wearing it while I was fighting.”

“You have a Time-Turner?” Dumbledore asked in surprise.

“Ah, yes. I believe that you and Professor McGonagall gave me permission to do so in my third year as I took on a rather heavy work load.” Hermione explained as a blush crept on her cheeks.

“You must be a very exceptional student then, Miss Granger.” Dumbledore said in amusement.

“Well, I think I have to be. We…I mean, I want to become an Auror after I graduate, and I’m sure you are aware of what marks are needed to get into Auror training.” Hermione said and immediately thought of Harry. Her eyes misted over with tears, she still did not know if Harry, Ron, or Ginny were okay.

“Indeed, I do. Well, Miss. Granger, I’m sure that you are aware of the dark times we are in, and to verify who you are, I would like you to take some Veritaserum.” Dumbledore then motioned to Madam Pomfrey, who walked over to them with a small vial of potion.

“The truth potion?” Hermione asked nervously.

“Yes, I shall only ask enough questions to seek the truth of who you are. I’m aware of the laws of time travel, so I shall try to stay clear of questions that will reveal too much.” Dumbledore answered.

Hermione nodded and took the vial from Madam Pomfrey. She uncorked the bottle and was about to drink its contents, then stopped herself before the bottle touched her lips.

“Professor, exactly how strong is this potion? I can’t face anyone if the potion is too strong.” Hermione again asked nervously.

“You need not fear, Miss Granger. I had the nurse dilute the potion, and she has the antidote on hand if it is required.” Dumbledore replied.

Again, Hermione nodded, and with one quick gulp, she had drunk the potion. They sat in silence for a moment, waiting for the potion to take effect.


	5. Shifting Through Time

**_…Now…_ **

Draco sat in his usual seat by Hermione’s side in the Hospital Wing. She had not regained consciousness in a week. Dumbledore had discussed with Hermione’s parents that she should be transferred to St. Mungo’s for better treatment, but they refused. They decided that Hermione would be better off in place she loved with her loved ones being able to be with her.

The hardest part of Hermione’s condition though, is that she is not in a coma. One healer informed them that she just seems to be in a deep sleep and could wake up at any time. The most baffling part was that every spell known to the Wizarding World had been used to help wake Hermione up, only to fail each time.

Draco leaned forward in his seat and held onto Hermione’s hand tightly. “Please wake up.” He whispered as he lowered his head and closed his eyes.

He sat there like that for what seemed like hours, wishing and willing her to wake up. His thumb lightly brushed the back of her hand as he held it, then he felt her hand squeeze his. Draco whipped his head up and looked at Hermione. She still looked like she was sleeping. Her head had not moved, her eyes were still closed, and her breathing was even and steady.

“Hermione, wake up.” He said in a desperate voice as he squeezed her hand.

Suddenly Hermione’s eyes opened wide and she took in a long gasp of air as if she had stopped breathing. She sat up right in her bed and began looking around her frantically, her hand pulled out of Draco’s as she patted herself down. Draco, although shocked to see Hermione awake, sat himself down on the side of her bed and held onto her shoulders firmly.

“Hermione, it’s okay. You are okay.” He said firmly to her.

Hermione looked at Draco, her eyes searching his, yet she seemed to have calmed down. She stared at Draco, not believing he was there. Then memories flooded back to her, the war, Dumbledore and the potion.

“What happened? Where am I? The potion? Where is Dumbledore? Why are you here? How can you be?” Hermione began throwing questions around, more to herself as she tried to register what was going on.

“What potion?” Draco asked her in confusion.

Hermione fell silent as she stared at Draco and she could see him searching her with his eyes, he looked confused and tired. Hermione shook her head as if to clear her mind and blinked a few times as she finally registered who was sitting in front of her.

“Draco, Draco Malfoy?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Why are you here?” She asked again.

“We’ve all been taking turns to stay with you,” Draco said in a cool, calm tone. His arms fell from her shoulders. “You’ve been asleep for the last week.”

“Asleep? For a week?” she questioned again. “Who’s we? Why you? You hate me!”

Draco stood from his seat beside her on the bed. “I think I should go find Madam Pomfrey and Dumbledore. They will be glad to see you awake.”

“Where are Harry, Ron, and Ginny?” Hermione’s questions kept flowing.

“Ron and Ginny are fine, they are in their classes. Harry…” Draco trailed off, as he was not sure what to tell her.

Hermione sat up straighter in her bed; she could see the worry across Draco’s face. “Where is Harry?” She asked again, more forcefully.

Draco let out a sigh and looked at Hermione dead in the eyes. “Harry is missing. We know he defeated Voldemort, but we haven’t found him.”

Hermione sat in shock. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was at a loss. She sat back in her bed, her hands covering her face as she began to sob. Draco moved to comfort her, though he stopped himself before he reached her.

“What the hell is happening?” Hermione said through her sobs.

Draco did not answer her though; instead, he turned around and found Madam Pomfrey and informed her that Hermione had woken up. The nurse hurried over to Hermione at once, and then he went in search of Dumbledore. He was confused by Hermione’s last question, but he did not allow himself to ponder on it. Hermione was awake, she was okay, and for the strangest reason, he was relieved that she was.

Ten minutes later, Draco had returned to the Hospital Wing with Dumbledore, and Draco noticed that Hermione looked rather calm and had changed into a fresh set of school robes.

“Welcome back, Miss Granger,” Dumbledore greeted Hermione as he approached her bed. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling quite refreshed after a weeks’ worth of sleep,” Hermione replied with a smile on her face. “Although, I am concerned about Harry, do we know anything at all?”

Dumbledore sighed and took a seat beside Hermione’s bed. “We know he’s alive, he was injured, but he was last seen alive. We have every resource being used to find him.”

Hermione nodded, and the room fell silent. In truth, Hermione was extremely confused, she felt like she had just dreamed about being in the past, yet somehow, she knew it was real. She could still recall the smell of Sirius’ cologne and the spicier scent of the one James wore. She glanced over at Dumbledore and could picture him younger as he was all those years ago. Every logical explanation she had told her it was just a dream, yet her instinct screamed that it was real.

Then there was Harry’s disappearance. Was he taken? Did he run away? Why did he not return to the castle? There had to be some clue as to his disappearance. Lastly, there was Draco. Why he was here was beyond her. He hated her, yet when she had woken up; she saw genuine concern on his face. Madam Pomfrey explained to her, when Draco had left, that he had helped her in the battle, he was the one that saved her from all those Death Eaters. What she did not know or understand was why?

Hermione looked over to Dumbledore, he had been waiting patiently for her to ask more questions, yet she really did not want to ask more at this point, not to him anyway.

“Professor, I was wondering if I may return to the forest. Perhaps something there was overlooked and could help find where Harry is.” She asked.

Dumbledore regarded her for a moment before he nodded in agreement. “If that is what you wish at this point, I see no reason why not. Draco has his afternoon free; he may escort you into the forest, though I must stress that you both are to be back before the sun sets. While I have taken every precaution to protect the castle grounds, I cannot guarantee that all will be safe in the forest once it is dark.”

Both Hermione and Draco agreed, and Dumbledore stood and reached into his robe pocket. He pulled out Hermione’s wand and returned it to her.

“I will inform your parents that you are awake and healthy and I’m sure you can catch up with your other friends in the Great Hall during dinner.” Dumbledore then turned and left.

Hermione jumped off the bed and pocketed her wand; she then looked at Draco and smiled. “Ready to go back into the forest?”

“Are you sure that is what you want to do?” Draco asked her, again Hermione could see concern on his face and this unnerved her.

“Yes, I believe you and I have a few things to talk about. Considering you are here and being nice to me, I would like to know how all this started. I was also telling Dumbledore the truth. There could be something there that was overlooked; it isn’t like Harry to just disappear.” Hermione replied.

“Fine, then let’s go.” Draco turned and led the way.

~~*~~

It was almost as if time had stood still as Hermione stood in the middle of the forest, looking around at all the damage that had been left in the wake of the battle. Hermione gasped in shock as she could barely recognise where she was. Draco was leaning against a blackened tree trunk, watching her. She briefly glanced back at him, before she walked a little further ahead.

The air in the forest still smelled like burning wood, trees had fallen where curses had hit them; some others resembled the tree that Draco was leaning against. The ground that was once littered with leaves and bushes was now just a bare black patch. As Hermione weaved her way around the trees, she suddenly came to a stop in front of a huge oak tree. She recognised it immediately; this was the tree that she hid behind after she was released from the Cruciatus Curse.

Hermione stepped up closer to the tree and placed a hand upon the trunk. Fresh tears had begun to fall down her cheeks as memories flooded her mind again. She did not hear Draco approach her, nor did she move away when he gently pulled her back away from the tree, turned her around, and embraced her tightly.

Hermione buried her head in his chest and cried. She took comfort in his strong arms; comfort for more than what the battle had left behind. After a while, she pulled out of his embrace and wiped her tears away. She looked into Draco’s eyes and noticed they were filled with warmth.

“Why?” she asked. One simple word, yet Draco understood perfectly well what she was asking.

“In all honesty, I still don’t know why,” Draco began and took a seat on the cold ground as Hermione did the same. “When I saw you fighting, there was just something about the way you looked. I remember feeling that you deserved to be attacked, that you are the enemy, but in that moment, I did not see you as the enemy. I saw you as someone who is truly brave and powerful, the determination and passion you have was something that I had never seen before.”

Draco paused to observe Hermione’s reaction. When he saw that her face remained neutral and she remained silent as she looked at him, he realised his explanation was not anywhere good enough for her.

“I knew the battle was coming, I had been preparing for it. I never knew it was going to happen when it did. I never thought that even after one of their own was killed that they would keep going.” At the mention of one of their own being killed, Hermione seemed to perk up and gave Draco a confused look.

“The little girl from Hogsmeade Station, her name was Chelsea, Chelsea Goyle.” Draco clarified.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth in shock as she remembered. “Oh, my…” she began to say as her hands drifted down and away from her mouth. “I had forgotten all about that little girl. Goyle, did you say?”

Draco nodded in confirmation. “I’ve never seen Gregory cry before, actually, I’ve never seen any other emotion from him, except whenever he makes himself sick from eating too many sweets.” Draco chuckled softly, as did Hermione, but the amusement quickly went away as Draco got back up on his feet.  
He held out a hand to Hermione to help her up, she stared at his hand, hesitating before she decided to accept his hand and he helped her up off the ground.

“I want to show you something, it’s about Harry.” Draco told her, and Hermione was more surprised that Draco had kept a hold of her hand as he led her off into the forest.

The thought of Harry was supposed to stir emotion within her, he was her best friend and he was missing. All Hermione could think about though, was the fact that she was in the forbidden forest with Draco Malfoy, holding his hand as he led her off somewhere and she wasn’t protesting.

Draco stopped in a clearing; he could remember this spot in the forest more than he could remember what a snitch looked like. It surprised him, as it was dark the last time he was here, yet everything he had in his memory told him he was standing in the right spot.

Hermione stood next to Draco, their hands still linked, and she watched Draco look around where he had stopped. She gave his hand a gentle squeeze with her own, to let him know she was still there. Upon feeling his hand being squeezed, Draco looked beside him and saw her concern for him. He gently let go of her hand and walked a little ahead of her before he turned back around with his arms held out.

“Before I helped you, I helped Harry. This was the last place I saw him. We were locked in a duel and the most confusing part of all this is, is that I did not want to be. I have hated and despised Harry from the moment I knew who he was. Then, when it came right down to it, I didn’t want to fight him; I wanted Harry to stop this stupid war. So, I…” Draco trailed off as the memory of that night flooded back, and for the unknown reasons, he felt his throat close up and tears well up in his eyes.

He looked away from Hermione, as he never usually cried, and he felt like a fool to show her such emotions. Hermione was shocked to see Draco so emotional, this was not the Draco she knew, yet she needed to know what he had to say.

“You what, Draco? What did you do?” Hermione urged.

Draco composed himself and looked at Hermione again, his cheeks damp from where some tears had escaped.

“I told him to go to Voldemort and end this war. I told Harry where I knew Voldemort would be. I surrendered myself to Harry and the next thing I knew, he was gone. I somehow feel responsible that Harry is missing. What if I led him straight into trap?” Draco stared at Hermione, his confusion and guilt was obvious to her.

Hermione just stared at Draco. She could not believe that she was looking at the same boy they had all grown up hating. Slowly a smile made its way onto her face, then that smile turned into a grin and Draco scowled at her.

“I can see that you’re pleased now. It’s time to go anyway, it’s starting to get dark.” Draco said in his normal icy tone and stomped off past Hermione.

“Draco wait…” Hermione called out and grabbed his arm as he passed her. Draco stopped, but did not look back at her.

“I didn’t mean to offend you. I just…I never knew that you had a conscious. Does Dumbledore know everything that you just told me?” Hermione asked and hoped he would look at her again.

Hermione could feel the tension ease away from Draco as the arm of his that she still held onto relaxed in her grip. He turned slightly to look at her.

“I told Dumbledore everything the day after I took you to the Hospital Wing.” Draco replied.

Hermione nodded and smiled at Draco. “Well, you’re still here at Hogwarts Draco, if Dumbledore had any reason to suspect that you had anything to do with Harry’s disappearance, you’d be locked away somewhere, perhaps even in Azkaban. He obviously trusts you, and for some reason, so do I.”

After a few moments, a faint smiled appeared on Draco’s face. The smile only lasted for a second as a loud howling sounded out around them and it made both Hermione and Draco jump in fright.

“Damn,” Draco cursed, “We have to go Hermione, it’s getting darker and Dumbledore is going to furious by the time we get back.” He slid his arm through Hermione’s grip and held onto her hand once again as he led her through the forest.

“What’s the rush, we’ve been in the forest before at night.” Hermione asked as Draco pulled on her arm, pulling her along at a fast pace.

“The creatures of the forest are not happy with us right now, Hermione. We destroyed a part of their home in a battle that they did not want to be in; some were even caught up in it. You best get your wand out and have it ready,” Draco said over his shoulder.

“Oh,” Hermione said softly as she looked around her as she allowed Draco to lead her out. Her wand now firmly clutched in her other hand.

As Draco led her through the trees, darkness seemed to surround them quicker than what she could remember. Draco had lit his wand tip to help guide their way, when Hermione saw a flash of glowing eyes on them. Hermione stopped dead in her tracks, pulling Draco to a sudden stop.

“What the…” Draco muttered as he was jerked to a stop. He turned back to look at Hermione and he noticed her searching for something in the trees. “What is it Hermione?” Draco asked her, his wand now pointing in the direction she was looking.

Hermione ignored Draco as she let go of his hand and inched forward. She concentrated on the spot she thought she saw the eyes come from. Something seemed very familiar about those glowing eyes and Hermione had to know if she was imagining them or if she really did see them.

As she inched closer still through the trees, that is when she saw it. The glowing eyes of a familiar black dog that seemed to be sniffing the air in search of something, or someone.

“Sirius…” she whispered but another howling animal drowned any sound she made. The dog’s head immediately whipped around and bounded off in the direction of the howling.

“Snuffles wait!” Hermione shouted out after the dog and she ran after it.

“Snuffles?” Draco questioned as he followed Hermione, then as she ran, Draco took after her as fast as he could.

“Hermione, stop!” Draco shouted, but Hermione kept running through the forest. He had no idea what was going on, or why Hermione was running, but he knew they had to get back to the castle.

Hermione had no idea how long she had been running, but she had to find the dog. Her mind raced as she tried to understand how she could see Sirius in his animagus form. She was back in her time and Sirius was dead, how could he possibly be here? She slowed down as she realised, she was coming to a dead end. She lit her wand and looked around to see where she was. All she could see were rocks and more fallen trees. She panted as she tried to regain her breath, and again tried to find the dog.

“Snuffles…” she shouted out into the night, though the only thing she could hear was the sound of her breathing.

Hermione walked around in circles, desperately trying to find where the dog had disappeared. After a while, she gave up and slumped to the cold ground. Her head was thumping hard and she still could not find any explanation to what she had seen. Was she hallucinating? Is she just imagining it all as if trapped in some type of dream?

“Hermione?” Draco said as he approached her, he was still panting from running after her.

Hermione was about to lift her head and say something to Draco when a small golden glow caught her eye. She scrambled on her hands and knees over to where the glowing was coming from. She shifted her hands through the dead leaves and other debris that covered the forest ground until something solid and cold hit her hands.

She lifted the object up and opened her hand and she gasped lightly as she recognised what she was holding. In her hand lay a silver ring that clasped onto a little golden snitch. As she held up the ring, the little snitch flew up and around her before returning to the ring. She knew this ring very well. She was with Ginny the day she purchased it for Harry. It was the gift Ginny gave to Harry last Christmas, and Hermione knew that Harry never took the ring off.

“Oh, Harry…” Hermione whispered to herself as she began to sob.

Draco watched Hermione begin to cry and still was unsure what to make of everything. He knew exactly where they were. They were not far to the cave that Voldemort was supposed to be in, the one he sent Harry to. How none of them had found the ring that Hermione had just found was beyond him?

Draco could hear footsteps behind him; he had been expecting them though. As he was chasing after Hermione, he sent an emergency signal up in the air. Dumbledore had put a safety protocol in place when anyone entered the forest. The search for Harry had members of the Order and friends of Harry’s searching well into the night.

“I believe it is time you and Miss Granger returned to the castle,” Draco recognised Dumbledore’s voice and nodded in comprehension, even though he did not turn to look at their headmaster.

Draco approached Hermione and helped her to stand, she leaned her head against his chest as she continued to cry, and they followed Dumbledore back through the forest, and up to the safety of the castle.


	6. Blending in Time

**_…Meanwhile, back Then…_ **

After Sirius and his friends left Hermione with Dumbledore, he could not keep his mind off this strange girl. He was never this intrigued by a girl, sure, there were plenty that tried to get his attention, but not like Hermione had his. They walked in silence as they made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Just before James had the chance to say the password, they heard a gasp.

“I can’t believe I forgot,” Remus said in surprise. “I have to go to the shrieking shack. Will I see you later?”

“Damn,” James muttered. “Yes, we’ll catch up with you soon, Moony.”

Remus nodded and left in a hurry. Sirius stared after Remus, his mind still on Hermione and did not realise that James had been trying to get his attention.

“Sirius?” James asked as he waved a hand in front of Sirius’ face.

“Oh, sorry Prongs,” Sirius said as he shook his head. “It has been a strange day. Go get your cloak and we’ll grab an early dinner before we catch up with Moony.”

James nodded once and entered the portrait hole. Moments later, they were heading down to the Great Hall, Sirius still had his mind on Hermione and did not notice any of the girls he passed that waved or said hello to him.

“I see your harem is out in great force this evening,” James joked, and Sirius looked about him. He saw the anxious smiles and excited waves from the girls of Hogwarts and scoffed.

“They only started paying me attention when you got together with Lily.”

Peter laughed, “Padfoot my friend, just face it, you’re the male Harlot of Hogwarts.”

James burst into laughter at hearing Peter’s words and Sirius gaped at Peter before playfully punching him on the arm. James’s laughter carried into the Great Hall as they entered and immediately caught Lily’s attention.

James hurried over to Lily and sat down beside her while Sirius and Peter took seats a little further down the table. No one ever saw Peter’s smiles or glances when he was in the Great Hall, which he was grateful for. James was always wrapped up in Lily and Sirius was too busy stuffing his face. When Remus was around, he generally had his head buried in a book and that left Peter to his silent communications.

He scanned the Slytherin table and found the face he had been searching for. He knew the look she was giving him was saying that they had to meet later. He threw her a quick smile before loading his plate. He knew that after they left to go be with Remus, his escape would be easy.

Just as Sirius was finishing off his second plate, James joined them and loaded a plate for himself.

“Lily wants to know if you have a date for Hogsmeade on the weekend.” James asked casually and Sirius looked at him in amusement.

“Since when have we taken dates to Hogsmeade?” he asked.

“Since Lily wants to go with me this weekend and her friend, Cynthia, wants to go with you.” James replied as he buttered some toast.

“And Cynthia hasn’t asked me herself, because?” Sirius grilled.

James laughed around a mouthful of toast, “Because you’re a hard person to approach, apparently.”

Sirius stared down at his plate and smiled. Obviously one girl felt comfortable around him, but he had no idea who she was or where she came from, yet Hermione’s face burned bright in his mind.

“I hate to interrupt you two, but we had better be going.” Peter said as he rose from his chair. Sirius stood, looked up at the enchanted ceiling and saw that the full moon was indeed shining bright. James took some of the unfinished food off his plate and ate it on the way out of the castle.

Peter looked around once they were out on the grounds and heading in the direction of the whomping willow. He caught sight of her, just before she disappeared behind the trees that filled the forbidden forest.

As they approached the whomping willow, James looked around to make sure no one was watching them and threw his cloak around the three of them. Once hidden under the safety of the cloak, they inched their way forward to the tree and Peter transformed into his rat form, scurried across the ground, and hit the knot at the base of the trunk that stopped the tree from swinging.

James and Sirius walked through the passageway and waited for peter to catch up. They could hear a loud howling sound echo down through the tunnel and knew that Remus was growing impatient. James then pulled the cloak off him and Sirius and folded it neatly before hiding it. Then he and Sirius transformed into their animagus forms and they made their way through the tunnel.

As they got closer to the shrieking shack, Prongs and Wormtail stopped and allowed Padfoot to enter first. Padfoot could always attract Moony’s attention better and calm him down before they set off on one of their adventures. Moments later the howling stopped and Padfoot barked to signal to Prongs and Wormtail that is was okay to enter.

Once they were all safely inside the shrieking shack, Padfoot was the first to lead the way out and onto the streets of Hogsmeade. They were lucky that Voldemort was gaining strength at times like these, as soon as it grew dark, not a person could be found outside at night. However, they were careful not to attract any attention by staying away from windows or any lighting. They stayed in the shadows and Prongs and Padfoot would guide Moony in the direction he needed to go.

Once they entered the forbidden forest, they separated away from each other a bit, allowing each animal to roam around freely. However, Prongs always stayed close to Moony and Padfoot was never far away either. Wormtail, however, had taken to wondering off more and more lately. Sometimes Padfoot was able to catch him, other times Wormtail would not be seen until well after Prongs and Padfoot had returned to their common room.

Padfoot bounded around the forest, loving the freedom he felt in animal form. James once told him he was like a puppy that liked to pounce and play. He was just about to jump over a fallen tree and catch up with Prongs, when he noticed that Wormtail had scurried past him, heading in the other direction. Padfoot heard a grunt, and saw that Prongs was motioning with his head to follow, and he bolted after the little rat.

He couldn’t see Wormtail, but his sense of smell was heightened as a dog, so he was able to follow the distinct smell that Wormtail had. He paid no attention to where he was going or how far away, he had gone from Prongs or Moony, he just concentrated on getting Wormtail back. After a while, he stopped and sniffed the air. He was noticing mixed scents and was confused.

Padfoot looked around him and could not see anyone or anything. He sniffed the air a bit more and slowly followed one particular scent. He was confused. She couldn’t be out here, she was still with Dumbledore. He thought, yet her scent told him she was standing not very far from where he was. He looked all around him, and he still could not see anyone. Suddenly a howling sounded out into the air and Padfoot whipped his head around. Moony was calling for him to return.

He bounded off in the direction he heard Moony calling him from, her scent lingered as he ran through the forest. Perhaps he had spent too much time thinking about her, he didn’t know, but soon he found himself in a clearing. He stopped momentarily and sniffed the air again. He could faintly smell that Wormtail had been here, but the scent was not strong enough to pick up on. Again, Moony howled and Sirius bounded off again. He still could not get her scent out of his nose though and wondered why he was detecting it.

~~*~~

He watched his friend looked for him, but he remained hidden until Padfoot was well and truly gone. Once he was sure, he transformed back into his human form and smiled. Peter knew they had no idea where he had been going or what he was doing. He felt good that finally he was doing something without them and without their approval. Their constant pranks and snide remarks bounced right off him now. He had become quite the little actor when he had to be, and he had no regrets for what he was doing. Their time was running out and he was glad for it.

“Peter, what took you so long?” a sweet voice sang out from just inside the cave. She always put on a sweet voice for him and he did not mind it so much.

“I had to wait for your cousin to get off my trail.” He said as he turned and smiled at her.

“Take my hand, he’s waiting for us.” She held out a hand and smiled sweetly at him. Peter smiled and took her hand.

“Anything for you, Bellatrix.”

~~*~~

**_…Now…_ **

Hermione sat in the warmth of the Head’s common room; she did not feel up to facing the rest of the students right now. Draco had offered to arrange for them to have dinner brought up to them, and he was going to let Ron and Ginny know to stop by in an hour. She held up her hand and twirled Harry’s ring in her fingers as she wondered what had happened to Harry.

Before she had time to think too much, Draco had returned with a tray of food. Without a word being spoken, he arranged the food on the coffee table in front of Hermione, served himself a plate and sat beside her to eat. Placing the ring back into her pocket, she felt like a zombie as she served a plate up for herself. If her thoughts were not on Harry, they were about James, Sirius, Remus and Peter.

Could she really have been in the past? If she was, did Dumbledore know and if he did, why hasn’t he said anything? Was it really Snuffles, she saw out in the forest? Or was her mind just playing tricks on her? All these questions kept floating through her mind, none of which she could answer. After finishing her plate, she placed it down on top of Draco’s empty plate and took the glass of pumpkin juice that Draco had handed to her.

Draco was another mystery to her, she could not quite understand why she trusted him or why she felt comfortable around him now, but she did. Even now as they sat quietly, each lost in their own thoughts, she felt like this was something she did on a regular basis with him. It still shocked her that he had helped her in the battle and stayed with her while she was asleep. She had to admit though; this new Draco seemed to intrigue her.

“Feeling better?” Draco asked, breaking Hermione’s train of thought.

“Very much so,” she turned her head slightly to look at him as she smiled. “I never knew you could be so nice.”

Draco flashed her a cheeky grin, one she had not seen before. “There is a lot you don’t know about me, Hermione. I just hope you give me the chance to get to know me better.” He said in a serious manner.

“Why is it so important for you to know what I think of you?” she asked.

Draco was not surprised by her question, though he did take his time to collect his thoughts before he answered her.

“In truth, I don’t know why. For the first time in my life, I am making decisions on my own, without my father making them for me. Whether these decisions are the right ones or not, I do not know. But as I held Chelsea’s body in my arms, something just…I don’t know…” Draco trailed off and sighed.

Hermione’s memories flashed in her mind again. The crowded station, the little girl who had fallen over and she bent down to…

“Oh my…” Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. She stood up and began pacing as tears filled her eyes.

Draco stood up too, watching Hermione pace. As she walked past him again, he quickly grabbed one of her hands and stopped her.

“Hermione, what is it?” He asked her, her tears rolled down her cheeks as her eyes met his.

“That curse, the one that hit Chelsea, that was meant for me. I bent down to help the other girl who had fallen, and Chelsea turned and stepped closer to help too. Only she must have stepped right in the line of fire. I’m supposed to be dead, not her.” Hermione cried, she yanked her hand out of Draco’s grip and buried her face in her hands.

Realisation hit Draco and his face paled even more than it already was. He closed his eyes and sighed. She was right, he replayed the scenario repeatedly in his head, and he could see how it all fell into place. He opened his eyes and found Hermione still standing before him, sobbing into her hands. He placed his arms around her and pulled her towards him. He hugged her tight and allowed her to cry.

A while later, Hermione’s sobs died down and she realised she was holding onto Draco just as tightly as he was holding her. Again, it felt strange that she felt so comfortable with him and took comfort in him with ease. Only two weeks ago, just the thought of doing this would have repulsed her. Yet right now, she really did not want to be with anyone else.

A knock on the portrait door made them both jump and separate themselves from each other. Hermione wiped her eyes and Draco went to open the door. Ginny and Ron stood looking at Draco. Ginny smiled and Ron scowled at him, though without a word, he walked past them both to leave Hermione alone with her guests.

Ginny stared after Draco, shrugged then entered the room. Once she saw Hermione, she ran up to her and flung her arms around her friends’ neck in a crushing hug.

“Oh, I’m so glad you’re okay, Hermione. We have been worried sick,” Ginny said as she pulled back from their embrace.

Hermione just smiled and looked past Ginny to look at Ron. He had his hands buried deep in his pockets and his face looked worn and tired. Hermione smiled at him and approached Ron. Ginny stepped back and watched. Ron had missed her terribly and when she saw them embrace each other, a sad smile crept up on her face. At least one couple has been reunited. She thought. Ron and Hermione had only decided to be an official couple a few weeks before school was to start up again and Ginny was so excited for them both.

Ron pulled out of their embrace first and went to place a kiss on Hermione’s lips, but Hermione moved her head to the side quickly and he ended up kissing her cheek.

“Everything okay, Hermione?” he asked her.

“Oh yes,” Hermione blushed and looked up at Ron. “I’m just tired and not feeling all that well.”

Ron looked at Hermione carefully and noticed her red, blotchy eyes. “Have you been crying Hermione? Was it Malfoy? If he has done anything…” Ron ranted on, but Hermione cut him off before he could continue.

“No, Ron Draco has been…Well, very supportive actually.” She said as she placed her hands in her pockets and looked Ron directly in his eyes. “Everything is fine, we were just talking about what happened, that’s all.” She went to walk away from Ron when one of her hands found the ring.

“Oh, Ginny,” she cried out as she pulled the ring out of her pocket. She turned to face Ginny and held out the ring.

Ginny saw what Hermione was holding up and instant tears welled up in her eyes. She walked forward, took the ring from Hermione, and closed her eyes as she bought the ring to her lips and kissed the little snitch.

“Oh, Harry,” Ginny whispered as she began to sob.

Hermione hugged her tight and comforted her; Ron looked shocked though neither of the girls noticed him.

“Where did you find that?” He asked. Hermione pulled back a little from Ginny and looked back at Ron before she replied.

“I asked to go back into the forest so I could find out what happened that night. I found the ring where Harry had defeated Voldemort.”

“How did we miss it? We searched that area a hundred times or more.” Ron asked in astonishment.

Hermione went to say that she thought she saw Snuffles but decided not to. She wanted to keep that to herself for the moment. Ginny then began sobbing louder, and Hermione turned her attention back to her friend. Only, to her amazement, Ginny was smiling, and her sobs were mixed with laughter.

“Ginny?” Hermione asked

“Oh, Hermione, don’t you see what this means?” Ginny said as she held up the ring. Hermione looked at Ginny confused. “Harry never takes this ring off. The fact that he did, tells me that we were meant to find it. It’s his way of saying that he is okay.”

Hermione and Ron both stared at Ginny, not able to share her excitement. Ginny let the snitch fly around the room as she tried to catch it, like Harry always did and Ron moved closer behind Hermione and whispered in her ear.

“What if that is Harry’s way of saying goodbye?”

Hermione sighed and shrugged her shoulders. After all that has happened, she was more confused now than ever.


	7. The Confusion of Time

Hermione flopped herself down on the couch in the Heads common room, her bag carelessly dropped by her feet. A couple of weeks had flown by and she wasn’t prepared for the heavy workload her schedule demanded from her. She knew that her last year of school would be hard, but she wasn’t ready for how physically and mentally draining her classes were.

Mr Cullum was their new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher. He was putting them through very complicated defence practical lessons that demanded more concentration than she normally had to apply. The search for Harry continued, Ron was avoiding her, Ginny still believed that Harry was coming back and was very happy about the situation. Hermione sighed as she swung her legs over the side of the couch, laying her head down on one of the cushions. She closed her eyes as she pictured the Marauders, though Sirius’s young face flooded her mind.

She decided that she must have been dreaming about them, if she really did go back into the past, surely Dumbledore would have said something, he would know, wouldn’t he? Hermione sighed again as she allowed her thoughts to drift. A smile came to her face as she thought of Draco. He never left her side unless he had to, he helped her catch up on the work she had missed, and he challenged her in class, keeping her focused. They had somehow slipped into a comfortable friendship that she was most glad to have. Soon enough, Hermione drifted off to sleep with her thoughts of Draco.

~~*~~

Draco left Dumbledore’s office and hurried down the spiral staircase, and to the Heads common room. The look of shock he had upon his face for the last hour still had not faded as he walked through the corridors, rounded corners, and went upstairs. He rushed by the portrait and into the common room, scanning the room for Hermione.

His eyes landed on her sleeping form on the couch by the fire, and a smile found its way onto his face. He quietly approached her and squatted down beside her. She looked so peaceful, and didn’t want to wake her, but he knew he had to.

“Wake up sleepy head,” he said in a soft tone as he lightly brushed back her hair from her face. Hermione stirred a little but didn’t wake up. “Come on, Hermione, you have to wake up,” he said, but this time in his normal tone of voice.

Hermione grumbled and opened her sleepy eyes; she saw Draco staring at her and scowled at him.

“Sleep now, talk later,” she mumbled and closed her eyes again.

Draco chuckled as he took hold of her arm and stood up, pulling her up with him, “No, you have to wake up now,” he held onto her tightly as she protested, he had helped her onto her feet and his arms were wound around her waist as she rubbed her eyes.

Hermione blinked a few times as she cleared her eyes of sleep, when her vision cleared, a blush crept up on her cheeks and she caught her breath as Draco looked at her. His smile lit up his face and Hermione always felt a slight tingle rush through her when he smiled at her like that.

“Are you awake now?” 

Hermione couldn’t answer him as she stared up at his adoring face, so she shook her head to tell him ‘No’ and she heard him chuckle. His eyes sparkled at her as she locked her eyes with his. She felt as if she were falling as her knees went weak. She felt Draco’s hold on her tighten, as he leaned his head down close to hers.

Their breath mingled as his lips hovered just above hers. Her heart was racing, and she felt slightly dizzy. She could smell his minty breath mixed with the spicy cologne he wore, which only added fuel to her desire.

“Draco…” she whispered, but his lips finally captured hers.

His lips were so soft and warm against hers and she melted into his arms. As he deepened the kiss, Hermione moaned, which only encouraged Draco further. She felt safe in his arms, she felt happy and she tried to convey that through her kiss and hoped that Draco could feel what she was feeling.

Moments later though, images of red hair flashed in her mind and Hermione gasped as she broke the kiss and pushed Draco away from her. Hermione was feeling light headed from the kiss and a hand went up to touch her lips to savour the feeling.

Draco looked at her confused, as he tried to catch his breath. Hermione stared back at Draco, she too had to catch her breath and somewhere deep inside, and her heart was breaking as she saw the look on Draco’s face.

“I’m so sorry Draco, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m with Ron and…” Draco cut Hermione short, rushing in to apologise too.

“Oh, no…I’m sorry…I should have known better…”

The two stared at each other for a moment, and then Draco composed himself as he remembered why he was there.

“I came to tell you that you’re needed in Dumbledore’s office,” he said and dropped his eyes from Hermione’s “It’s about Harry.”

“Harry, what about Harry?” Hermione gasped, still looking at Draco, though he now wouldn’t look at her.

“We should go…” Draco said and looked back up at Hermione. The sparkle was gone from his eyes, which confused Hermione.

She nodded her head and silently they left the common room and headed back to Dumbledore’s office. Draco walked a few steps behind her, both lost in their own thoughts. As they rounded a corner, they met up with Ron and Ginny.

“Ginny, Ron…You’ve heard?” Hermione asked

Ginny was beaming. “Its good news, I just know it.” She said as she kept walking down the hall to the Gargoyle.

Ron followed his sister in silence and Hermione had to run to catch up with him. His hands were buried in his pockets and Hermione tried to hold onto his arm and pull his hand out to hold it, but Ron shrugged her off and kept walking. Hermione should have felt hurt by his actions, but he’d been avoiding her for so long now, that she shrugged it off. Draco though, had seen what happened and was quite intrigued about it.

As they made their way up the spiral staircase, Hermione was feeling more anxious than ever. She wasn’t sure if she was going to like the news about Harry, Ron’s cold shoulder was annoying her, and Draco’s kiss burned bright in her mind. She reached Dumbledore’s door first, so she knocked and waited. Once she could hear someone tell them to enter, she opened the door.

Standing beside Dumbledore, stood Harry. He looked fantastic as he smiled at her.

“HARRY!” Ginny shrieked and ran past Hermione and jumped into Harry’s arms and hugged him tight.

Hermione could not believe it, he was here, and he was okay. She stood frozen in her spot by the door, her hand still on the handle. Ron moved past her and smiled at Harry as Ginny refused to let him go. Draco urged Hermione forward, but she couldn’t move. Her head became fuzzy and her vision blurred, she heard Draco call out her name and felt his strong arms catch her as she fell backwards, then, darkness over took her.

~~*~~

**_…Then…_ **

**_…from Chapter 4…_ ** __

_“You need not fear, Miss Granger. I had the nurse dilute the potion and she has the antidote on hand if it is required.” Dumbledore replied._

_Again, Hermione nodded, and with one quick gulp, she had drunk the potion. They sat in silence for a moment, waiting for the potion to take effect._

Hermione opened her eyes and began coughing, she looked around her and noticed Dumbledore looking at her with concern and Madam Pomfrey was patting her back.

“Are you alright, child? You must have choked on the potion,” the nurse said.

Hermione blinked rapidly as she tried to comprehend what was going on around her. Her coughing had subsided, and she sat looking at Dumbledore with confusion on her face.

“Harry, where is Harry?”

“Who is Harry?”

“Harry Potter, of course, we were just in your offi…” Hermione trailed off, as she comprehended what room she was sitting in. She was back in the infirmary, her mind swirled of the last two weeks. She looked back up at Dumbledore, then to Madam Pomfrey, her mind registering their younger looking features.

Hermione stood, though her head felt light and she felt slightly dizzy. She clasped her hands around her head to try to steady herself.

“I’m dreaming…” she whispered to herself. “I’m dreaming, this is not real, this is not real…”

Dumbledore led Hermione back to her seat, he was not sure what the girl was talking about, but he was going to find out.

“Is your name really Hermione Granger?” 

“Yes,” Hermione replied, as she looked up at Dumbledore, surprised that the potion seemed to force her to, rather than her answering of her own will.

“What year where you born?”

“Nineteen seventy-nine,” she answered.

Dumbledore seemed to pause upon hearing this, and then he repeated his earlier question. “Who is Harry?”

Hermione hesitated, not wanting to answer, but the potion forced the words out of her mouth “Harry is the son of Lily and James Potter,” she said as a tear escaped her eyes.

“How did you get here?” The questions kept coming.

“I don’t know.”

“How do you know Sirius Black?”

“Sirius is Harry’s Godfather.”

“Are you really from the future?”

“Yes, I was just there,” Hermione cried out. “Two weeks had just passed, and I thought this was all just a dream, this has to be just a dream…” Hermione said as she buried her head in her hands and cried.

If Dumbledore was surprised by Hermione’s outburst, he didn’t show it. He turned to the nurse who wore a shocked expression on her face.

“Please give her the antidote and I will have the old Head Mistress quarters set up for her,” he then summoned a quill and a piece of parchment and scribbled a note, folded it and handed it to Madam Pomfrey. “Please give her this when she is ready to leave.” Madam Pomfrey nodded and Dumbledore left the infirmary.

~~*~~

An hour later, Hermione was sitting in an armchair by a raging fire, an assortment of food lay on a table in front of her, and her mind was working overtime to try to rationalise what was happening to her.

She was back in the past, though she had no idea how or why. Two weeks had passed in her time, but it seemed to have happened in an instant in this time. This thought confirmed why Dumbledore had no memories of her. If what she was going through now happened instantaneously, it would be as if it never happened at all in her time. Hermione sighed and shook her head. She was developing a rather nasty headache from thinking too much.

She rose from her seat and went over to a window, opened it up and let the fresh air wash over her face. From where she stood, she had a good view of the Hogwarts grounds. Although it was dark outside, she could make out certain shapes of things in the moonlight. To her left, she could see the Whomping Willow gently swaying in the breeze, in front of her would be the great black lake, though she could not see it, she could vision it in her mind. To her left, she could see the outline of the trees that filled the Forbidden Forest.

Just as she was about to step back and pull her window closed, something by the trees caught her eye. Two animals emerged from the forest and Hermione leaned her head out of the window to try to focus her sight better. She could see a stag and a dog running beside it. Hermione smiled to herself as a howl sounded out in the distance.

“James and Sirius,” she whispered, though somehow the animals were not there anymore.

She scanned what she could see of the grounds, but they seemed to have disappeared. Hermione frowned and she was about to give up, until she saw movement on a patch of ground where the moonlight shone down in it and looking up at her stood two boys.


	8. Explaining Now and Then

“Do you think she saw us, Prongs?” Sirius’ eyes did not leave Hermione’s as he spoke.

“Yes Padfoot, I think she saw us.” James replied, he too was still looking up at Hermione. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught funny movements coming from Sirius, so he forced himself to look at his friend. “What are you doing?”

“I’m trying to tell her that we’re coming up to see her,” Sirius replied, and James watched him make hand gestures and mouth words.

James looked back up to where Hermione was and noticed her nod, then her head popped back inside her window and it closed. The boys then made their way up the many stairs of Hogwarts; they knew exactly where her room was. They had been to the old Headmistresses rooms before when they had been caught sneaking out after curfew.

James was feeling particularly nervous as they walked through the dark halls. They didn’t go back to retrieve his cloak and he knew Filch and Mrs Norris were always on the prowl for them. To his great relief though, they made it to Hermione’s room without incident and Sirius lightly knocked on her door. Moments later, Hermione greeted them with a huge smile on her face.

“Come in,” she opened her door wider to allow them to pass, and then a scowl sat firmly upon her face. “Honestly you two, where is the invisibility cloak? You know Filch would do anything to catch you sneaking around.” She scolded, and then closed her door.

“You know about my cloak too?” James asked incredulously.

Hermione looked at the two boys and sighed. “You both had better sit down,” she said as she motioned to the chairs, they both saw the food on the table and immediately rushed over and sat down by the table and began to pick at the food.

“Boys!” Hermione muttered and rolled her eyes as she sat in the armchair.

She waited patiently while the boys ate some of the food, then Sirius looked at her and she locked eyes with his. Looking into his eyes sent a shiver down her spine and a blush crept up on her cheeks. His eyes reminded her so much of Draco’s, but they were very different in looks. Sirius’s stare was just as intense as his was and they seemed to speak to her soul. Her stomach fluttered as she remembered Draco’s kiss and she allowed her eyes to stray down to Sirius’s lips. She drew in a sharp breath as she noticed how full and soft they looked, and when his tongue quickly ran across his lips, she felt the heat rise in her cheeks.

James noticed what was taking place and he rolled his eyes. It was so typical that girls fell for Sirius. He had no idea why, Sirius never went out of his way to be nice or charming. He hated the attention most of the time; he wanted a girl to like him for who he was, not because of his family name. The Blacks were known to be great followers of Voldemort, however the wealth attached to the Black name, made any respectable girl forget. He smiled to himself though, as Lily’s face floated through his mind. She was one in a million and he was thrilled that she had finally decided to date him this year.

“So,” Sirius began. “How do you know us, but we don’t know you?”

Hermione looked at him in surprise. “Straight to the point, huh?” Sirius shrugged.

“Well,” Hermione paused as she wasn’t quite sure where to start or what to say. She drew in a deep breath and looked Sirius in the eyes. “I’m from the future, the year nineteen ninety-seven, to be exact,” James choked on a mouthful of food and Sirius sat straight and still.

“The future?” Sirius repeated.

“Yes, I don’t know how or why I’m here, I just am.”

“And you know us?”

Hermione hesitated as she looked at James who was just starting to recover, her eyes clouded over with tears as she thought of Harry. He really does look so much like his father. She looked back to Sirius before she answered.

“You could say that,” she whispered.

Sirius noticed her change in emotions as she looked at James, he wasn’t sure if he believed her yet. “You told Dumbledore this?”

Hermione nodded, “He asked me to take some Veritaserum before he questioned me, just to make sure I was telling him the truth.” She admitted.

“And you drank it?” James finally asked the shock in his voice was apparent.

“Of course, I wouldn’t lie to him,” she said defensively.

Any doubt Sirius had flown out of the window as he heard this, though he still had many questions to ask. “What did you see when you saw us outside?”

Hermione laughed at Sirius and both boys looked at each other doubtfully then back at her. “Oh, you need not worry about that. I know that you are both unregistered Animagi.”

James gasped. “You do?”

“Yes. You’re a Stag, Sirius is a dog, Remus is a werewolf, though that isn’t exactly an Animagus, and Peter is a rat…” Hermione trailed off as she blinked a few times. “Peter, where is he?”

Sirius sighed. “He has taken to wondering off on his own lately.”

“Oh,” Hermione whispered. She wondered if this is how it starts. Is this when he starts to betray them? She looked at James nervously before quickly looking away again.

James couldn’t help but notice the way she looked at him with sadness. “Did I hurt her in some way in the future?” He thought, though he didn’t realise that he spoke his thoughts aloud and heard Hermione protesting.

“No, you never hurt me, why would you ask such a thing?”

James shrugged and sighed. “Every time you look at me, you seem sad.”

“Oh,” Hermione whispered again as she tried to gather her thoughts, should she tell him? She looked back at James and sighed.

“You just…Well that is to say…” she stumbled on her words as she didn’t know what to say or how much. “It really is uncanny how much Harry looks like you.” She finally decided on the truth.

“Harry, who is Harry?” James asked in surprise.

“Harry is your son, my best friend. He looks just like you,” she smiled as she remembered seeing him for the last time. His brilliant smile and the love he has for Ginny as he embraced her. “Except for his eyes. He has Lily’s eyes.”

“I have a son?” He asked as a huge grin spread across his face. “Lily and I have a son, together?” Hermione laughed and nodded her head.

“See Padfoot, I told you I was going to marry Lily,” he said with pride, Sirius just rolled his eyes at him. His grin slowly faded as he looked back at Hermione. “I do marry her, right?”

“Yes, you marry her.” She said and forced a smile. She could not tell him more. It was heartbreaking to think that he wouldn’t have that much time with Lily or Harry.

“So, you said that Harry is your best friend, is he more than just that? Is that why you look so sad when you look at James?”

Hermione looked at Sirius shocked then burst out laughing. “Me…and Harry?” She said through her laughter. “Oh, heavens no. Harry is besotted with a girl named Ginny. Ginny Weasley.”

“Weasley?” Both James and Sirius repeated as they looked at each other. The name was very familiar to them.

“Oh,” Sirius beamed as he remembered the name. “The Weasley’s are that red headed family that always comes over at Christmas. They have two young boys, I think.” Sirius told James and he finally remembered.

“Oh, that’s right; they are both pretty good on a broom, especially the youngest one. What’s his name?” James said as he tried to think.

“Charlie,” Hermione piped in and both Sirius and James looked at her.

“Yes, Charlie is his name.” James said with a smile.

Hermione smiled back, and Sirius shook his head in disbelief. She knows so much about them and yet they knew so little about her. She was intriguing though, and he couldn’t help but be attracted to her for some odd reason. It was as if he had already met her or known her before. He shook his head as he realised, he obviously does know her, just not now. He knows her in his future.

He looked back up and saw Hermione staring at him. “You okay, Sirius?”

“Yeah, I guess it’s all just overwhelming.” He admitted.

“I know, I still can’t believe I’m here. I just have no idea how I got here, or even why.” She sighed.

“A spell, a potion?” James asked her.

Hermione shook her head, “No, neither of those things, not even a time-turner, I just don’t understand it.”

James and Sirius were silent for a moment, when Hermione yawned. Sirius could see the worry on her face and his heart went out to her. This made him perk up and wonder what he was thinking. He rarely felt sorry for many people, he had only just met this girl, and her story is just so fantastical that he felt like he was in a dream, yet something about her appealed to him. She was so nice, down to earth and honest. He had noticed the way she stared at him earlier, and he did feel flattered when she blushed. That too confused him as many girls blush at him for no apparent reason, but not like Hermione did. There was some kind of knowing behind her blush. Something on a deeper level that made him want to know more about her.

“Well, we should be going,” Sirius said, as he rose from where he was sitting. James nodded and rose from his seat too. “I’m not sure if you can, but its Saturday tomorrow, and we’re all going to Hogsmeade. Would you like to come with us?”

Hermione’s face lit up and she smiled at Sirius from where she sat. “I’d love to,” she replied and began to rise from hear seat.

“Oh, no, stay where you are, we can see ourselves out.” James said, and Hermione sat back in her chair. “Try and eat,” James pointed at the leftover food on the table. “You’ll feel better after a good meal and some rest.”

Hermione nodded and the boys left. She sighed and looked at the food that was left on the table. She picked up a plate and served herself some, thankful that a warming charm was placed on the dishes. As she sat back and ate, she couldn’t keep her mind off Draco and Sirius. Their eyes made her melt and she really had no idea why. She had only just become friends with Draco and never thought of him as anything but a foul, evil person. However, that has all changed. He had changed.

Ron was ignoring her, and her once sworn enemy was proving to be a better friend than he was. Sirius though, he was someone she had met before, someone she had liked and had grown to love. He was wise and loved Harry more than life itself. So why was she now so intrigued with the young Sirius? Why did he make her blush? It was all too confusing.

She finished her plate and once she sat it down, she gasped as she finally realised. Sirius and Draco are related. Perhaps that is why she finds Sirius’s eyes so familiar. They are the same colour, they both possess that hard glare that makes you nervous, they both possess a certain coolness about their personality’s. That is where the comparison’s stop. Draco is a Malfoy and was raised to hate. Sirius made the choice not to live like that and that is what made Sirius so wonderful in her time.

She let out another sigh and shook her head. All her thoughts were bringing back her headache. She stood and stretched out her arms and yawned. James was right; all she needed was a good meal and some rest. She headed over towards the king, four-poster bed and slid under its covers. As she snuggled in, her last thoughts were of grey eyes as sleep took over her.


End file.
